Safety Tidbit 8.12 – Back to Basics on Lead

Safety Tidbit 8.12 – Back to Basics on Lead

References:

1.     PAHO/WHO | Lead Contamination

2.     The detrimental effects of lead on human and animal health - PubMed (nih.gov)

3.     The Facts on Lead - Roadmap on Carcinogens

The Safety Tidbit was prepared by Aidan Griffin, a Junior in the Safety, Health, and Environmental Applied Sciences Program at the Indiana University of PA, graduating in the Spring of 2024.

Lead is a group 2B carcinogen that thousands of people are overexposed to in the workplace yearly. It is a toxic metal that builds up in the body of those exposed, which can cause long-term health effects. As an employer or employee, it is incredibly important to familiarize yourself with lead information to ensure that your workplace is protected from it. Without the proper procedures in place, you or someone you work with could be overexposed and suffer from lead poisoning or any of the other numerous health hazards of lead exposure.

Today's major sources of occupational exposure to lead comes in many different forms. However, the most common way to be exposed is through working with lead-containing materials, such as leaded gasoline, lead-based paints/pigments, lead-containing wastes (e.g., electronics), and lead-acid batteries. These exposures are extremely common in people working in the construction, manufacturing, and recycling industries. The more common ways this happens in these industries is through inhalation of lead dust, mists, or fumes and accidental exposure through ingestion through improper hygiene practices at work. Meaning that the person exposed came into contact with lead and, without cleaning/disinfecting themselves, proceeded to touch their face or eat and drink, leading to them ingesting lead particles.

Both human and animal studies of lead exposure have proven lead to be an incredibly toxic metal. In a study on rabbits, overexposure to lead caused DNA fragmentation, reduced fertility rates, and damage to their organ systems. Similar results were found in people exposed to lead in the mining, welding, manufacturing, and construction industries. People overexposed to lead were more likely to have nerve disorders, decreased kidney function, fertility problems, and cardiovascular problems.

To prevent overexposure the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other organizations have set limits on how much lead a worker can be exposed to in the workplace without overexposure. The permissible exposure limit for lead set by OSHA is 50 μg/m³, an 8-hour time-weighted average. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure levels are also 50 μg/m³.

There are multiple ways to evaluate lead exposure in the workplace. The most common way is air sampling. Air sampling allows you to test for lead particles in the air, and since inhalation is the primary route of exposure, sampling of the air breathed makes sense. Preliminarily though, it is important to know what you have in the workplace. If you can anticipate and then recognize that something you are working with contains lead, you can take the proper safety steps to protect yourself.

I hope this was helpful, and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

 

P.S. Please let me know if you have a new safety or health question.